Destinies Part 1: Prophecies
by A.J. Mitchell
Summary: (sequel to Irresistible) Three years have passed, Buffy & Xander are married with a baby on the way, but an ancient prophecy could threaten them all.


DESTINIES Part 1: Prophecies 

by A.J. Mitchell 

Disclaimer: "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" is property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, etc. 

Rating: R (violence & some sexual situations) 

Pairings: Buffy/Xander 

Timeline: This story takes place after the end of Season 6. 

Spoilers: Anything up to and including the end of Season 6. 

Summary: Three years have gone by, Xander and Buffy are married with a child on the way, but an ancient prophecy might put them all at risk. 

Author's Note(s): (1)This is the sequel to "Irresistible". Thoughts are shown in italics. I realized as I was writing this part of the story, that it contained some similar themes to quite a few stories that I've read by other people, but I don't think they've ever all been put together like this. (Phew!) Lawsuit averted. j/k. Enjoy! (2)The gang still fought the First Evil in a fictional Season 7 and they managed to defeat it. (hint, this will be important) 

Feedback: Please feel free to send me any comments you have on this story. slayer_scribe@hotmail.com 

* * *

CHAPTER 1

Buffy maneuvered her way down the stairs and into the kitchen where Xander was already at the stove making breakfast. It was a lazy Sunday afternoon and the sun shone brightly through the windows casting a warm golden glow throughout the room. Buffy walked over and gave Xander a peck on the cheek. "Mmm good morning," she smiled. She was about to turn away when he turned and caught her lips for a brief, but lingering kiss. 

"Good morning to you too." She smiled again and hoisted herself up onto a chair. He glanced over at her and chuckled, "Alright. Very well m'lady here are today's specials." After three years he could read Buffy's expressions like a book and she was sitting at the table with her expectant look on her face. It was like asking 'what's for breakfast?', without actually asking. Xander continued, "This morning we have light, fluffy pancakes, lightly spread with margarine, with your choice of maple syrup toping, or plain. And to drink we have a tall glass of ice cold milk." To emphasize he held up the glass of milk, "Yes milk. The choice of all expectant mothers." Buffy giggled as he came around the counter and laid the food down in front of her. He smiled and waggled his eyebrows at her and then almost lost his balance as she pulled him towards her and kissed him hard on the mouth. It was deep and passionate and Xander could feel his toes beginning to curl. Finally she released him and he slumped backwards holding on to the edge of the counter for support. "Whoa, Buff," he panted. "Not that I'm complaining, but do you have any idea when…" he was at a loss for the word so he gestured, "…This, is going to be over?" Buffy shot him back a wicked grin and hopped off the chair so she could stand in front of him. 

"The doctor says that it's perfectly natural for a woman to be very sexually aroused during her pregnancy." Xander nodded, remembering that piece of information from one of the many meetings with said doctor, but he remained uneasy when Buffy's grin didn't go away. "Well see, dear," she said, her voice dripping with honey, "being the Slayer means that all of my senses are heightened." She paused to run her finger up and down his chest and then continued. "And Giles said that he didn't know how pregnancy was going to affect me, since a Slayer has never gotten pregnant before…Although to be fair it's more like how will my being the Slayer and having all the goodies that come with that title affect the normal course of a pregnancy." She stopped and wrapped her arm around his neck, pulling his head down until his lips were only inches away from hers. Then in a low, sultry whisper she said, "Apparently that combination throws my hormones into overdrive and…well…you know what that means, don't you lover?" She pulled him tight to her and kissed him deeply, hungrily and he lost all resistance. In the back of Xander's mind were thoughts about the pancakes and about when Dawn and Willow and Heather were due back, but they quickly melted away as his wife pulled him down to the floor, very insistent that he perform his husbandly duties. As he found himself awash in bliss he thought back to the beginning of it all. 

* * *

Three years ago thanks to an irresistible demon pheromone, he and Buffy had realized their feelings for each other and had started to date. At first Xander couldn't believe that he was dating Buffy Summers, the girl of his dreams and even more unbelievable was that she loved him as much as he loved her. The hardest part of it all came at the beginning with the task of telling the others. Neither of them was sure quite what to expect. Buffy knew that for years Willow had harboured feelings for Xander and even thought it seemed that she had worked past them the Slayer was worried as to how her friend was going to react to the news. Xander meanwhile was more worried about how Anya was going to react. He knew first hand about her rather explosive temper and her habit of feeling persecuted when she wasn't and only a few weeks before she had come out and accused him of not marrying her because of his feelings for Buffy. Would Giles approve? Dawn? What would Angel think? There was no love lost between him and Xander at the best of times. They had both agreed about the necessity of telling Angel about their relationship and Cordelia as well, they just didn't know what to expect from anyone. First they had to deal with their friends and family at home so they gathered them all at the Magic Box and told them straightforwardly that they were in love and that they had been seeing each other secretly for a couple of weeks. Buffy had chewed her lip nervously as she sat next to Xander, clutching his hand as hard as she dared for fear of breaking bones. For a moment that seemed to last forever no one said anything. "Well, it's about time!" Dawn said, breaking the silence. Buffy looked up and saw her sister smiling at them, looking as proud as could be. 

"Darn, tootin'!" Willow agreed, also smiling. The girls rose and embraced Buffy amidst a chorus of giggles. Xander turned to look at Anya who remained seated and stony-faced. For a moment she did nothing more than that and then she got up wished them well, curtly and walked into the back. Buffy looked over at Xander worried, but he reassured her that this was actually one of the better reactions Anya could have had and that in time she'd be okay with the whole thing. With the rousing success of telling Dawn and Willow, the pair next called Giles who, between sputters and stammers, managed to cough out that he was very happy for them. Although Xander detected a note of trepidation in his voice, but then Buffy had always been like a daughter to him so it was understandable. The last call was the one to L.A. Buffy spent almost an hour on the phone with Angel and Xander the same amount with Cordelia. Although neither of them were exactly thrilled they wished the new couple well. At least it was a step up from Anya's reaction. With all of that out of the way they began to settle into their relationship. 

After six months they decided that Xander should move in with Buffy, Dawn and Willow. It made sense in a lot of ways. Xander could stop paying rent on his apartment and instead help with the mortgage payments on the house. With his income now helping Buffy could afford to quit her job at the Doublemeat Palace (not that she had much of a job left there after she missed so much work during her battles with the Trio and dealing with a grief-stricken Willow) and she could go back to school. So Xander moved into the master bedroom with Buffy and the household settled into a new phase of life. One that was more normal than any one before it. Buffy still went patrolling of course, but now either Dawn, Willow, or Xander went with her. And that's how life went for the next year. Then _it_ happened. Xander took her out to dinner one night, very fancy, candlelight and everything. And then when the plates were taken away Xander got down on one knee, presented her with a ring and proposed. He never remembered being as nervous as he was at that moment, not even when fighting the forces of evil. Sufficed to say the wedding was scheduled for the next month. 

Ah, The Wedding. 

It was a beautiful affair, even though it was a tad untraditional. It wasn't held in a church, but rather in Buffy's living room and it took place at nine o'clock at night. Both of these considerations were made so that Angel and Spike could attend. After he regained his soul Spike came back to Sunnydale, but found that he couldn't stay. He needed to come to terms with having his soul back and what that meant. So he went to L.A. to be with Angel and learn from him. They both RSVP'd immediately when they got the invitations, although Buffy thought that Cordelia must have done a little prodding in Angel's case. So the three of them came, leaving Fred, Gunn, Connor and Wesley to hold down the fort while they were gone. Giles came from England and Oz too managed to find his way back for the blessed event too. The most surprising thing though was when Angel and Co. showed up with an extra guest in tow. On the day that Xander proposed to Buffy, Faith was released from prison and came along to the wedding as a surprise. It was an interesting reunion to say the least, but by the end of the first night after many apologies, explanations and revelations all was well again. The big night was perfect with a blanket of stars covering the sky overhead. Dawn was Buffy's maid of honor and since Xander could think of no one more deserving of the job he asked Willow to be his best man and she accepted; much to the chagrin of her new girlfriend Heather who spent the ceremony sitting next to Oz and Anya. And when the wedding march started it was Giles who walked Buffy down the aisle and gave her away. The reception was held in the backyard and after a night of celebration the group dispersed. Willow, Heather, Dawn and Cordelia went to Anya's apartment, Oz and Giles went to their respective motel rooms and the vampires went to spend the daylight hours someplace dark; leaving Buffy and Xander to be alone with each other. 

It was like their first time all over again, although they had made love countless times since that night in Xander's apartment when the confessed their feelings to each other. But once again they were nervous, fumbling, but in a sweet and caring way. Xander's fingers trembled so much that he could barely undo the buttons on Buffy's dress and she brushed her hands over his body very gingerly, as if she thought his skin might burn her with its heat. They made love, softly and sweetly over and over again that night and fell asleep in each others arms just as the sun crested the horizon. 

Things were just about as perfect as they could get for the next year. Buffy continued with school and slayed all kinds of nasties in her spare time; Xander got a promotion at work and was making more money now, which certainly didn't hurt their financial situation any; and Willow, through goodness knows how many make up courses and night and summer school classes earned her degree and was now working as a computer troubleshooter for one of Sunnydale's largest corporations, which didn't hurt their financial situation either. She had decided to keep living at Buffy and Xander's because, really she had no where else to go and she didn't want to go live by herself. The Slayer and her mate, of course, gladly welcomed her decision, since they themselves had gotten used to having Willow around too. Dawn was muddling through high school, much as Buffy had done, only without the saving the world bit, and complained about it often. It was on one of those days, when Dawn came home and started ranting as soon as she stepped in the door, that she found her sister sitting in the living room with tears in her eyes. Dawn panicked immediately fearing that someone had died, or worse, but Buffy smiled at her and told her not to worry. Dawn had to wait until everyone was home until she found out the reason for Buffy's mood. They all sat in the kitchen as Buffy announced that she was pregnant and the smile on Xander's face could have lit up the night and killed every vampire on Earth. Again phone calls were made as friends and loved ones were notified. 

* * *

Xander smiled to himself as the memories flooded his mind and he couldn't help, but laugh a little as he thought of Giles stammering over the phone, obviously flustered, searching for the right words to say. "What's so funny, honey?" Buffy asked, giggling at her own rhyme. Xander snapped out of his daze and looked down at the pancakes on the plate in front of him. Then he looked up and saw his wife looking at him with a smile on her face. He blinked, and then realized that he'd been fantasizing before. Buffy had not pulled him to the floor and demanded that he make love to her, not that she hadn't before. He laughed and said, 

"Oh just a trip down memory lane." Buffy raised an eyebrow, 

"I hope the fall didn't hurt too much." They both laughed, as only two people who were truly happy could laugh, and returned to their lazy Sunday morning breakfast. 

* * *

Roughly 5,400 miles away, tucked away in a corner of the basement library of the Watcher's Council's archives, Rupert Giles sat back and removed his glasses. He rubbed the bridge of his nose and absent-mindedly started polishing his glasses. He had been down in the cavernous basement for two days now and it seemed he was no closer to finding the missing section than he had been when he arrived. After conferring with some of the Council's top scholars his suspicions had been confirmed. There was an entire portion of the Pergamum Codex that was missing. The most confounding part was that it hadn't been torn out, it just wasn't there. After consulting Angel and some of his less-official sources Giles was certain that an un-translated copy of the missing text was somewhere within the Council's records. After making discreet inquiries through all of the official channels and coming up with nothing he deduced that the texts must be stored with only the oldest and most sacred manuscripts the Council had in its possession. And now here he was with nothing to show for his work, but a headache and his body's constant craving for a cup of tea. 

He put his glasses back on and reached behind him for the next tome, but instead he found himself grabbing hold of a battered leather dossier. He sighed and untied the strings that held it shut and closed his eyes as several pages spilled out. With almost no interest he looked down at the sheets in front of him and he felt his breath catch in his throat. He would need to do some checking and cross-referencing with the volumes at his flat, but this looked like what he was looking for. Quickly he scooped the parchment back into the dossier and tucked it under his arm as he started across the dimly lit room to the stairs. In the dark, shadowy recesses of the furthest most stacks a pair of eyes observed the Watcher as he carefully made his way up the stairs. It was not the man that the eyes were interested in, but the item he carried with him. The figure stepped back and melted into the darkness. He would bide his time and if he was lucky the man would do all the work for him. As he turned to go he took one last look at the man who picked his way so cautiously up the ancient stone steps. "Careful, careful….wouldn't want you to fall and break your neck now would we, Ripper." 

* * *

* * *

CHAPTER 2

The living room was decorated with paper streamers and balloons and a big banner strung over the mantle that read: You're Having A Baby! _As if it wasn't apparent enough to me already,_ Buffy thought as she sat back on the couch. She smiled as she looked around the room. It had been really sweet of Willow to organize a baby shower for her. It was the kind of normal, everyday thing that Buffy never really thought about, but when they came she basked in them. Moments like this were like an oasis in the desert and she treasured each and every one of them. All around her, her friends were gathered…and they all brought presents with them. She grinned wickedly as she thought of the treasure trove of gifts that were piled up in the corner, just waiting for her to open them. Willow and Heather were there and Dawn, obviously along with Faith who had moved in with them shortly after the wedding. Giles had thought it would be a good idea for the younger Slayer to have a positive presence like Buffy in her life and so far things were going well. Cordelia had come up from LA with gifts from the gang at Angel Investigations and even Anya came. Although, Buffy thought, it was probably more for the free food than anything else. She sighed and lightly fingered the plush Count Chocula that Dawn had included with her gift for the baby. The teenager looked up with a frown. "What you don't like it?" 

"No, no it's fine, Dawn. It's cute actually. I just wish that the real things were just as cute and cuddly." Dawn smiled, pleased with the compliment on her gift. 

"Good, I thought that the baby could get a head start on the whole vampire thing." Buffy's eyes narrowed and she crossed her arms over her chest. 

"Oh no. No child of mine is going to have anything to do with the vampire _thing_." Dawn shrugged her shoulders and went back to listening to Anya and Cordelia talk about money and what to buy with it. Willow got up and walked over. She sat on the couch next to Buffy and gathered her legs up under herself. She tucked an errant lock of red hair behind her ear and looked over at the Slayer. "So how're you doing future mom?" she asked. 

"Still trying to deal with the fact that I'm going to be a mom." She looked down and picked nervously at the afghan underneath her. "And I wish that Mom was here, y'know for advice and things." Willow leaned over and gave her friend a hug. She knew how hard it had been for Buffy without Joyce. She'd gotten better with the day to day stuff, but then she got married without her mother there and now she was going to have a baby. These were things that girls wanted to have their mothers around for. Willow held Buffy close and told her it would be alright. 

"You'll be a great mother, Buffy. You've already done a great job raising Dawn on your own and with Xander here every step of the way you'll do great with your baby too." Buffy couldn't help but smile at that. _What would I do without her? What would Xander do without her? She's our best friend. And I'm happy that she found Heather. After __Tara__ died we weren't sure if she was ever going to be able to move on._ Buffy looked over at the brunette woman on the floor. _She's been so good for __Willow__. Maybe I don't tell __Willow__ enough how much I like her._ She squeezed her friend even tighter and then let go when the witch started tapping her arm. She leaned back and watched as Willow tried to catch her breath. 

"Geez, Buffy…." she puffed, "you need to……remember about that…..Slayer strength…" 

"Oops! Sorry Wills." Willow gave an 'it's okay' look and settled back against the cushions. Buffy smiled at the contented look on her friend's face. Willow was on her third glass of red wine and it was starting to show. One more and she'd be asleep on the couch where she sat. The blonde looked over at Faith, who was sitting in the armchair on the other side of the room, and she got the message. The second Slayer got up and went over to the couch. 

"That's more than enough for you, Red." She said as she plucked the half-full glass from Willow's hand. "Last thing I want to do is carry you upstairs again." Both Willow and Buffy laughed as they remembered Willow's last birthday party when she'd had quite a bit to drink and passed out in the kitchen. Since Buffy was in a family way, it was up to Faith to carry the snoozing witch to her bed. Not that it was a difficult task for a Slayer, but still they all liked it better when Willow made it to bed under her own power. 

Faith set the glass down on the coffee table and took a seat on the floor in front of the couch. Buffy didn't know what she would have done without this girl either. Since she'd been released, Faith had almost been a different person. She still had her somewhat dirty mind and wicked sense of humour, but she was more responsible now. She genuinely cared about the people around her and took care to watch what she said and did when she was with them. She had come a long way and the gang was proud to call her friend. Buffy was indebted to her for her help with the Slaying after Giles insisted that pregnant mothers did not go running around killing vampires. Things had been fairly quiet for the last few months and Faith had no problems taking care of things on her own. Everything seemed to be going perfectly for everyone. Willow and Heather, Faith getting her life together, Anya and Giles making money hand over fist at the Magic Box thanks to the demon's bold new business plan and Xander seemed to be walking on air. Buffy frowned slightly as she thought about her husband. He'd been working long hours lately, taking almost all the overtime he could get, but she knew that he wanted to get as much done before the baby came. He'd already arranged to get almost six months off from his construction company on the condition that his crew finished all their current projects before the baby was born. She sighed and fingered the simple gold wedding band on her finger. _God, I love that man._ Willow and Faith smiled as they watched Buffy's almost unnoticeable gesture, but they both knew what it meant and who she was thinking about. They exchanged their own secret little smiles as they watched her, because they knew what Xander had planned for that evening. Faith jumped up and grabbed a hold of Buffy's hand. "C'mon B. Let's open those shinny wrapped boxes and see whatcha got." Buffy laughed and allowed herself to be lead over to the corner surrounded by her friends and family. 

* * *

Giles sat bolt upright in his seat, clutching the armrests for dear life. He quickly looked around the cabin and then calmed down. It had only been a dream.…but still. He reached down in front of him and pulled his satchel into his lap. He checked to make sure they were still there and sighed in relief when he saw that they were. He had gotten back to his flat as fast as the tube would get him there, looking over his shoulder the entire time, convinced he was being followed. He checked the pages he had found against the few prophetic volumes he owned and against the Codex itself. Once he was satisfied that what he had found were indeed the genuine article he booked a seat on the next flight out to LAX. He packed a small overnight bag with a change of clothes and some toiletries and then his satchel and grabbed a taxi to Heathrow. Now he was on a smaller commuter flight from LA to Sunnydale. He checked his satchel again and again he saw just what he should have. Sitting in the bag was the leather dossier containing the missing prophecies and nestled next to it was Codex. But the dream had seemed so real. He could almost feel….almost hear….almost smell…. _I have to get to Buffy._

* * *

Buffy and Xander lay stretched out on the living room couch relaxing in each other's arms. Willow, Heather and Dawn were upstairs and the others had gone home an hour ago. "So how did the shower go?" Xander asked. Buffy snuggled back into his embrace and sighed contentedly. 

"It was lovely. Willow really did a great job with it." Xander was glad that Buffy had enjoyed herself. He knew how hard things had been for her lately without her mother around. He had vowed to makes things as easy for her as he possibly could both now and after the baby came. He was going to be the world's most caring and supportive husband and father. He had made that promise to himself years ago. He never wanted to turn out like his own father and although he knew that he'd never be a violent alcoholic, he wanted to make sure that he was there for his family. He held Buffy a little tighter as she nodded off to sleep in his arms. He smiled. It was little times like this that he still couldn't believe that she was married to him. Her, the girl of his dreams. Buffy Summers, was now Buffy Harris, his wife, his lover and the mother of his soon to be child. 

"Oh I just remembered," he said shifting to get out from under her. "I've got a shower gift of my own for you." Buffy grumbled at having to sit up so Xander could move and as he walked out of the room she admonished him. 

"You didn't have to get anything." 

"I didn't," he called back. She sat up confused and waited for him to come back. A moment later he stepped back into the living room carrying an object with a sheet draped over it. "I made it." he finished. He set the bulky item down on the floor in front of the couch and then stood proudly beside it. Buffy was looking at him curiously now as he did a little drum-roll on his thighs and whipped the sheet off in a grand gesture. She gasped. Sitting on the floor of their living room was the most beautiful crib Buffy had ever seen. It was built from wood and painted white with claw-feet on the bottom and the most intricately carved design on the headboard. Buffy was speechless, all she could do was stare. Xander couldn't read the look on his wife's face and after a couple of moments passed without her saying anything he began to get worried. "Do you like it?" he ventured warily. She looked up at him as tears sprang to her eyes. 

"It's beautiful." she said as she stood up. She walked over and wrapped her arms around him, pulling him as close as she could. They stood like that in the middle of the living room just holding each other and staring into each other's eyes. Blue/green eyes drowned in the rich, dark brown ones that looked back at them. Strong arms held the petite form even tighter as soft, delicate fingers brushed an arrant lock of dark hair from the forehead that went with them. Buffy sighed and rested her head on his chest, feeling his heart beat. Xander smoothed his hand over her hair and gently kissed the top of her head. "I love you, Buffy." he whispered. She pulled back to look him in the eye, 

"I love you too, Alexander." She smirked as she saw the blush rise to his cheeks. She was the only person that he would let call him that. The only other person who did was Willow and then only when she was very upset with him and he didn't like it one bit. He moved his head down and captured her lips for a soft, lingering kiss. Buffy returned it gently rubbing her lips across his, brushing with her tongue. He opened his mouth and granted her access and the kiss deepened. Finally they pulled apart, gazing wistfully at each other, just enjoying being in the other's embrace. Buffy was about to move in for another kiss when there was a sudden, almost frantic knocking on the front door. They both went to the door and opened it to find Giles, looking disheveled and weary, his eyes barely open, leaning on the door frame. "Giles!" Buffy cried out and moved to help him, but he dismissed her actions with a wave of his hand and straightened up. 

"No, no I'm just tired, that's all." He moved inside and leaned on the banister, the young couple still looking at him with concern etched on their faces. He took a deep breath. "Call the others. Something is coming and we don't have much time to prepare." 

* * *

* * *

CHAPTER 3

Giles sat at the Summers' dining room table with a hot cup of tea in his hands. He looked up from its depths and scanned the room. Buffy and Xander sat immediately to his left, holding each other and looking at him expectantly. Around the table the rest were seated. Willow, Heather, Dawn, Anya and Faith all looked at him with the same expression on their faces. He sighed and started. "As most of you know the Codex," he paused to remove the book from his satchel, "is the most complete volume of Slayer lore still in existence. But since I went back to the Council I discovered that there were several key prophecies that it supposedly contained that were missing. Although they were officially a part of the Codex they were recorded separately and passed down through the ages. They were lost for centuries, or rather, not lost, but they were kept secret, not on purpose mind you, but….." he trailed off realizing that he had gotten off topic. "Through research and hours spent combing any available material the Council had I managed to find these missing prophecies and I am afraid that two of them come directly to bear on life of the Slayer at this point in time." Both Faith and Buffy looked up at him and he closed his eyes trying to fight back the wave of nausea that passed through him at the thought of what he had to tell them all next. He pulled the loose sheaf of papers from his satchel and re-adjusted his glasses on his nose. "It has to do with you Buffy," he said looking directly at her. "And you as well…. Xander." The room went silent. Everyone turned to look at Xander, who himself looked like he was about to faint away. Giles took a sip of his tea and waited for the inevitable question. 

"Are you sure, Giles?" Buffy asked, rather than Xander. 

"Let me read you the first prophecy and I will let you all decide for yourselves. First though as you know into each generation a Slayer is born. The Chosen One. One girl in all the world with the strength and skill to hunt the vampires. That prophecy has been known by Watchers since the beginning. This, however is the prophecy that directly follows it, which was not included in the original Codex." Giles cleared his throat and read from the page in front of him, "_ Unto__ each Slayer a Champion is betrothed. One man whose love is true and whose soul is untainted, a White Knight. One born with the heart and strength to stand by the Slayer, be her saviour and give her the love she would deny herself._" The room once again fell silent as the group contemplated the words that Giles had spoken. Buffy looked up at her husband and gently caressed his cheek, her eyes wide with wonder. She knew that it was Xander that the prophecy spoke of. It was visible that the others had doubts so Giles continued. "This prophecy can only be speaking of Xander. It rules out Angel, because the Champion's soul must be untainted, and his was somewhat…..uh…. tarnished by the demon within him. Xander has always stood by Buffy, even when she discouraged him from doing so and at great risk to himself. He has been Buffy's saviour and I am somewhat pleased to say that now we have an adequate explanation for why Xander was able to bring Buffy back to life in the Master's lair." He paused and looked directly at Xander and nodded when he saw the question in his eyes. 

"Angel," Xander started quietly. "When he came to kill Buffy in the hospital, when he was Angelus and I stood up to him, wouldn't let him in," Buffy looked up at him with shock in her face. He stroked her hair to ease her distress and went on. "He called me, Buffy's White Knight." Giles nodded and took up the narrative once again. 

"Angel's demon recognized something in Xander that no one else did, nor could they without this prophecy. So now you see that he is the Champion, the betrothed of the Slayer. Now never in recorded history has there ever been a case of a Slayer and her Champion ever meeting, and certainly not of them falling in love and marrying. Which is why the next prophecy is even more relevant to our situation." Giles' throat was dry from all of his talking so he paused again to have some tea, but the others couldn't wait. Willow picked up the next paper and read the translated version out loud. 

"_The End of Nights will be brought about by a Slayer born of a Slayer and her Champion. When the End has come to pass the darkness shall be chased from the Sun and the Hellmouth will be forever sealed, never to be opened again._" Again silence enveloped the room as soon as the last word was spoken. Giles looked at Willow irritably and plucked the paper from her hands. Buffy's face held a look of disbelief and she closed her eyes fighting back the tears that were threatening to come. _No, no, no…. not my daughter. Not _our_ daughter._ She felt Xander's hands come to rest on her shoulders, squeezing them and trying to give her some comfort. She shook her head and a single tear rolled down her cheek. 

"No, Giles," she sobbed. "I don't want my child, our child, to have anything to do with this. Nothing, do you hear me? I swore that I would protect her from all of this." She waved her hand around indicating not just their present situation, but all of the many times like it that had come before. Then she lost control and just started to whimper and cry. Xander pulled her to his chest and held her there, stroking her head and whispering soothing words in her ear. He looked up at the man that both he and Buffy had come to think of as a second father and his eyes pleaded with him for it not to be true, both for his wife's sake and their child. Giles lowered his head, not able to meet Xander's eyes. 

"Does it mean… what we think it means?" Giles, Buffy and Xander looked to the end of the table after Dawn had asked. She knew that this was hard on Buffy, but they had to go on. They had to know what was coming, so they could plan. She looked defiantly at them. Giles nodded and spoke again. 

"Yes it does, Dawn. It means that Buffy and Xander's child is destined to be a Slayer just as Buffy was and as Faith was." 

"But I thought that the Slayer had to die in order for a new one to be called?" It was Faith this time and she looked over at Buffy with a reassuring glance. It was meant to be comforting, but it filled Buffy with a cold chill, because she knew that it meant, if necessary Faith would protect her and be the one to die, in order to pass on the legacy. 

"Traditionally that is the case," Giles said. "But we are already in quite an untraditional situation as it is. Never before have there been two Slayers and never before has the essence been allocated by lineage." Several of the group were giving him questioning looks so he explained. "The Slayer essence has never been passed from mother to daughter before. Which is most likely what will happen. When the child reaches a certain age, Buffy's powers will be transferred to her, and no Slayer will have to die." Both Faith and Buffy looked somewhat relieved at that news, but Buffy was still coming to grips with the fact that her daughter was doomed to the same fate she was. Her voice shaky she asked the Watcher, 

"What does the rest of the prophecy mean, Giles?" 

"I have seen references to the End of Nights in other significant texts. It refers to the banishment of a great evil force. By looking at what's left I believe what that means is self-explanatory. This new Slayer will somehow close the Hellmouth for good and banish the darkness from the Sun. The evil will be banished from Sunnydale. Forever." The silence returned, but this time it was a stunned silence. None of them could believe it. With the birth of a single child the evil that had plagued all of their lives for the last ten years could finally be put to rest. Even Buffy and Xander realized what this meant for the world at large and suddenly the prospect of having a child destined to be the next Slayer was no longer as soul crushing as it had been only a moment before. "I realize that all of this has been somewhat taxing on you all and on Buffy and Xander in particular. So I suggest that we all go and get some rest now and we can hold council again in the morning to decide what is to be done." Everyone agreed and Dawn took Giles to get settled in, while Xander saw Heather and Anya out. Buffy stood in the kitchen staring out the window. Willow and Faith just hung back by the door and watched her unsure of what to say, or even if they should say anything at all. 

* * *

Outside the figure watched as Anya and Heather walked out of the house and down the front walk. As soon as they were out of sight he turned his attention back to the house. Through the window he could see Giles getting ready to settle in on the couch as the younger Summers handed him sheets and a pillow. He smiled to himself and started to leisurely walk away from the house. Everything was falling into place and he had work to do now. He was going to need help if his plan was going to succeed and he knew just who to recruit first. After that some local talent was definitely in order… in a manner of speaking. The figure laughed as he disappeared into the night with his coat swirling behind him. 

* * *

* * *

CHAPTER 4

The house awoke to the sound of thunder the next morning as ominous black clouds covered the sky and poured rain onto the world below. They stumbled out of bed and took turns in the shower for the next hour, or so until finally they were all gathered in the kitchen each clutching a mug of steaming coffee. Even Giles. Ten minutes later Heather showed up at the back door sopping wet and fifteen minutes after that Anya arrived looking like a drowned rat and with one rather disheveled umbrella. After everyone was settled again they turned their attention to Giles and waited for him to begin. Instead it was Xander who spoke first. "Buffy and I have come to terms with the fact that our child is going to be a Slayer. We're not happy about it, but we've accepted it and we'll deal with it when the time comes. The question is, what do we do now?" 

"Well," Giles said, "we have a slight advantage in that not many beings can know about these writings at all, so we have some amount of time to come up with a plan. However these are some of the oldest prophecies ever written and certainly any of the oldest demons and possibly vampires may know the information they contain. Then there is also the possibility that, over time, others have heard tell of them, or perhaps even seen them." He looked over at Anya as he paused and she shook her head. 

"I'd never heard of them when I was a vengeance demon and I'm certain that D'Hoffryn had never heard of them either, or else he would have mentioned it." Giles continued, 

"Be that as it may, we can be certain that something, somewhere has heard of these prophecies and as such we must be on our guard and we must start to make preparations." Everyone nodded at this and settled into silence as they began to think. Faith stood off to the side looking worried as her brow furrowed and a frown appeared at the corners of her mouth. Finally she voiced her concern. 

"You said that the oldest demons and guys like that would know about B and X's kid?" Giles nodded and Faith's expression grew more worried. "So the First could have known about it and might have spread it around?" Suddenly everyone looked very worried. They all remembered the nearly year long battle with the First Evil and it still gave some of them nightmares. In the end however they had triumphed and beaten It once and for all. The group mulled over the new wrinkle in the situation for a few moments. 

"It doesn't change anything." Giles stated. "No matter who, or what knows we still need to prepare." 

For the next two hours they outlined patrolling schedules, inventoried weapons and supplies and with Willow's help set up several protection and detection spells around the house. It was decided that Anya and Heather would move into the house for their own safety. With the strategic planning out of the way there was only one last issue to be dealt with. Buffy, Xander, Willow and Giles sat at the dining room table alone. Willow had performed her own special protection spell around the room, which made the room itself impregnable. The others couldn't see into the room, or hear anything from within it, while the four occupants inside could hear and see them. That way the final, and most important plan, could be carried out without any real risk of it being found out by the wrong people. That was also the reasoning behind the choice of the people who would take part in the conception of the plan. Only the four original members of the group would know what would happen next and they would all carry the secret with them to their graves than reveal it, no matter what. 

* * *

Fifty feet below a nondescript stretch of land in the middle of the Nevada desert a man paced the length of the cell he had been held in for the last five years. He spent the time thinking, scheming and planning because he knew that some day he would get out and after that day he would have many things to do, many people to hurt for what they'd done to him. But what he wouldn't have given for some real clothes and not the gray pajamas and slippers he was forced to wear during his incarceration. Ethan Rayne sighed and sat down again on the edge of his cot. He was truly sick of spending his days and more importantly his nights in this little gray box. So much fun could be had at night. Feeling restless he stood up again and walked over to the "door" of his cell. The entire front of his enclosure was made of bulletproof, super-plastic three inches thick. It was designed so that he could see out and the guards could see in without the hazard of metal bars. A slide-away panel was locked in place by a computer operated, magnetized lock and was only released when they took him out for showers. He had resigned himself to the fact that there was no way he could escape, at least not without any of his books. Ah, his books. They had all been destroyed he knew that much. The soldiers who captured him and brought him here liked to play dumb, but they knew exactly who he was and what he was capable of. So they had burned his house down with all of his books and magical paraphernalia inside. He knew this because of a newspaper clipping they had included with his dinner one evening shortly after his imprisonment began. He sighed in frustration and leaned his forehead against the cool surface of the barrier. He'd had enough. He stood back and looked up at the ceiling with his arms outstretched and called out, "I'd sell my soul to get out of here!" He waited a moment and when nothing happened he dropped his arms to his sides and slouched. _Not that I expected that to work in here anyway._

"You of all people should know to be careful what you ask for, Ethan Rayne." said a voice from behind him. Ethan spun around wide-eyed with surprise and came face to face with a man about his height and approximate age, with long dark hair and wearing a black fedora and a black leather duster. Not to be completely undone, by what appeared to be a simple parlor trick, Ethan stood up straight and asked in a calm, slightly patronizing tone, 

"And just who are you?" The man shook his head and clucked his tongue as he sat down on the cot. 

"It would have been so much better before. I could have showed up as your dead father and just tricked you into service." He removed his hat exposing the bare top of his head and now Ethan could see that his long black hair only started at the edge of his crown, giving the man somewhat of a morbid look to him. "But necessity has forced me to come here and strike a deal with you." 

"Done." said the warlock immediately. The man smiled showing a row of yellowed, uneven teeth. The smile unnerved Ethan, but after five years of doing nothing at all he would agree to anything if it meant getting him out into the world. "I only ask that you indulge my curiosity and answer my earlier question, as well as telling me what this deal entails exactly." 

"Very well," said the man. He stood and looked Ethan straight in the eye, "I am the First Evil." A moment of silence passed and nothing more was said. 

"Sorry mate, I don't buy it. I've read about the almighty First Evil and I must say, nowhere did it say that It was a dirty, middle-aged man." He paused and poked the man in the shoulder. "And It was supposed to be incorporeal." Anger now simmered in the man's eyes as he balled his hands into fists and clutched them tightly at his sides. 

"I _was_ incorporeal, but thanks to that Slayer and her witch-" He stopped, nearly choking on his own rage, but Ethan already got the picture. 

"Ah, I understand now." 

"I thought you might." the First said with a small smile. It proceeded to tell Ethan about Its final battle with the Sunnydale contingent of the forces of good. How the Slayer had used her witch to cast an ancient spell that allowed her to fight It on the plains of their minds. The Slayer had bested It and assumed that It had been destroyed, but It had only been weakened. Weakened to the point where It needed to take a corporeal form in order to live. Its powers were greatly impaired and only a few of Its once mighty magicks were at Its disposal. Its strength had been diminished as well, to the point where it was only just a touch above that of the Slayer. Ethan nodded the entire time, keeping rapt attention. 

"So what do you want me for?" 

"You see my salvation can only come from the Hellmouth. Only with its power can I become strong again. However a nearly impossible development has occurred and the Hellmouth itself is at risk of being sealed forever with no hope of it ever being reopened." the First explained. 

"Well that's no fun now, is it?" Ethan chuckled. 

"No I'm afraid that would spoil my plans." The First stood and crossed the short expanse to stand directly in front of the other man. "I need you to help me recruit some very special allies who will help us to stop the Slayer and her friends so the closing of the Hellmouth will never come to pass." 

"Of course they had to be involved." 

"Aren't they always," the First shrugged. Ethan smiled as the black energy swirled around them and carried them out of the cell. He wished he could be there to see the guard's face when he came to bring dinner. _Good old Sunnydale, here I come._

* * *

In Los Angeles the telephone at the Hyperion Hotel was ringing off the hook. Finally after what seemed like ages of incessant jingling the dark, brooding, en-souled vampire known as Angel picked up the receiver. "Angel Investigations." 

"Hey Deadboy, we thought for a minute that something had happened to you guys too." 

"Faith? What are you talking about? What would have happened to any of us?" Angel was concerned. Faith never called him and she never sounded worried. 

"We thought maybe that you guys had been taken too. Although Dawn's telling me how stupid that is, because they would have only been after Buffy anyway." Angel tensed and held the phone in an even tighter grip. _Buffy!_

"What happened, Faith?" 

"We don't know, Angel. When we got up this morning B, Xand, Red and Giles were gone. But all their stuff is still here and Xander's car is still in the driveway. We think they might have been taken because of the baby." 

"The baby, why?" There was the sound of squabbling in the background on the other end of the line and Angel had to wait for a moment before he got a reply. "No time to explain right now. We sure could use some extra muscle up here though. My Slayer sense is tingling and I can tell something bad is gonna go down." 

"Alright, I'll bring Spike with me and we'll be there by tomorrow night." Another muted conversation in the background and then Faith spoke. 

"You'd better bring Wesley too, since both of our resident brains have gone missing on us. We have some things here he should take a look at and if he comes you can all be here by tonight." 

"Alright, we'll be there by dusk." Angel hung up and called out for Spike and Wesley. As they came running down the stair case, along with the rest of the crew, Angel couldn't help but feel a cold sense of dread pass over his body. Buffy was missing. So were her husband, her best friend and her Watcher. One alone would be worry enough, but all four of them was cause for panic. Something had happened to them…. but what? 

* * *

To Be Continued…


End file.
